


Idiots Can Catch Colds, Actually

by traptrixnepenthes



Category: Future Card Buddyfight
Genre: 'write a sick fic' 'okay' [writes something directly to the left of that], M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 15:57:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17328059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traptrixnepenthes/pseuds/traptrixnepenthes
Summary: this was written for @kurouzugaitou on twitter! a little bit of sick day kanagai for their partner~!





	Idiots Can Catch Colds, Actually

Kanata was Kanata--that was a plain and obvious statement to make, but in Gaito’s eyes, Kanata was someone who rather stubbornly stuck to his own principles and own thoughts, not being one to go along with anything that he didn’t personally want. Sometimes it was admirable, and sometimes it just reminded Gaito of what an absolute and complete  _ idiot _ Kanata could be.

Right now was one of the latter times.

Kanata couldn’t have avoided Aibo’s soccer club even if he’d actually wanted to--his natural talent at just about everything he tried was plain enough that he was actually highly coveted by every single competitive club from basketball to chess, but it was to soccer that he’d given his attention. And he  _ was _ good at it, definitely the star player of the team, and yet here he was during practice, managing to completely overshoot the ball getting passed to him. He stumbled over his feet, not being able to keep his balance at all, and slammed face-first into the dirt. Just like that, practice was put on hold, and Gaito had to restrain himself from running onto the field and to Kanata’s side just like every single one of his teammates had.

“Ow,” Gaito heard him say very intelligently as he started to pull himself up, “that kinda hurt.”

“Kanata, are you okay? You’ve been kind of out of it all day.” A dark-skinned girl with a thick braid over her shoulder held out her hand to Kanata, and he took it, standing up with her help. “You sure you don’t need to sit out or something?”

“No, I’m just fine! I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.” Kanata brushed himself off, but even from this distance Gaito was standing it looked like his hands and knees had some nasty scratches. Intruding on a club’s practice was, by the students’ unspoken but widely understood rules, completely illegal, but just sitting around watching Kanata act like this was making him antsy. Kanata would always be Kanata, which was why seeing him act so decidedly un-Kanata-like felt just plain wrong.

The girl crossed her arms and looked him over. “You...should probably sit out for a while. If you get injured, it’s gonna affect the whole team, so you need to look out for yourself, alright?” She turned to where Gaito was standing and gestured at him. “That friend who’s always out here watching you practice is here, so why don’t you go take a break with him for a while?”

Usually having his presence on the other side of the chain link fence pointed out would’ve been embarrassing, but this time it meant he could take the few steps to the gate and to the edge of the field while Kanata, being his usual stubborn self, tried to tell the girl everything was fine. “Hey,” he called out to Kanata, and caught his eye.

Apparently that was enough to get Kanata to finally, reluctantly, back down and walk over to Gaito. “You’re not worried about me too, are you?”

“Of course I am,” he said bluntly, and Kanata just laughed a little bit. “Like she said, you’ve been acting weird all day. Is something wrong?”

“I’m just fine, really! It’s just fine--”

And he stumbled again, but this time Gaito was there to reach out and grab his wrist before he fell. “Let’s sit down.”

“Ah, but--”

“It is your destiny,” Gaito intoned solemnly, “to sit down on the bench with me.”

Once he actually had Kanata seated and practice had started up again, Gaito fished out the first aid kit that sat under the far side of the bench. He was fairly certain there was supposed to be a coach or something overseeing all of this stuff, but no one was on the field except the two of them and the other members of the soccer club, meaning that patching up Kanata after his falls was entirely Gaito’s problem.

Not that he especially minded taking Kanata's hands, one after the other, and holding them gently while he disinfected the little cuts and scratches. None were actually bad enough to warrant needing bandaging, but after giving the same treatment to Kanata’s skinned knees Gaito put two of the extra-large sized bandages on, one to each leg. “There.”

“I could’ve done all of that on my own, y’know.”

“With how much you’re shaking? I doubt it.” Gaito sat next to him again, knowing that Kanata probably really did think everything he’d just done had been completely pointless. Trying to look after a complete doofus like him tried his patience sometimes, but when it came to Kanata, it seemed like he had a limitless amount. “Really, what’s wrong? You’ve been unsteady all day.”

“Well, I guess I have. Kinda spaced out, too. And I feel really cold.”

Gaito frowned. “Are you sick?”

“What? Of course not.”

Ignoring him, Gaito reached up with one hand and put it against Kanata’s forehead and, as absolutely expected, he was burning hot. This  _ definitely _ wasn’t a normal human body temperature.

“Not only are you sick,” Gaito said to a Kanata who he now noticed had a bit of a far-off, dazed look in his eyes, “but you’re so sick I can’t believe you haven’t passed out yet with how hard you’re pushing yourself. How could Athora have let you come to school like this?”

“Oh, did you know? Prism Dragons like Athora aren’t technically alive, so they wouldn’t recognize something like a fever--”

Kanata started rambling something weird about how Athora was actually a zombie or something, and Gaito took that as his cue to stand up and signal to the girl from before and tell her that he was going to walk Kanata home.

Gaito collected Kanata’s stuff and then Kanata himself, carrying all the bags on his own just in case Kanata decided to try falling again, and holding onto one of his arms as well. After pushing himself so hard for the entire day, he was pretty understandably unstable, and Gaito just kind of kept up some absentminded conversation with Kanata’s delirious ramblings while he navigated the way to Kanata’s house. They’d walked home together a few times… Or several times… Or a lot of times. Dragging Kanata along the path that Gaito now had memorized wasn’t terribly difficult, and Kanata’s family was well-off enough to have their home be in a nicer part of town that was closer to the school. Gaito was thankful the walk was short, mostly because Kanata’s condition seemed to be worsening.

Kanata fished his key out of his pocket, and Gaito took it from him before he could try fumbling with the lock. As always, Kanata’s parents wouldn’t be home until much later in the evening, so Gaito had until they got back to make sure Kanata was doing at least a little bit better. He dropped their bags by the door and gently herded Kanata to his couch, and Kanata, finally letting Gaito take care of him, laid down against its pillows.

“Gaito?” He’d only just laid down, but already Kanata looked like he was ready to fall asleep. No surprise, after everything he’d done today.

Gaito answered him while pulling a quilt out of a cupboard near the door, stretching up on tiptoe to reach it. “Yeah? If you’re planning on telling me again that I don’t need to bother with taking care of you, don’t bother.”

“No, it was…” Gaito laid the quilt over him, wondering in the back of his mind if Kanata’s parents would mind terribly if he did something like make soup for their sick son. Maybe ransack any bathroom cabinets for cold medicine. He checked Kanata’s temperature with his hand again, and it felt like it’d gone up from when they were still at school. “...Gaito, are you listening?”

“Huh? Yeah.” As he said it, he stood up, still preoccupied thinking about what else he could do to help Kanata. Maybe just ice would be better? He looked so tired, after all… 

Gaito stepped out and down the hall to the kitchen, having visited enough times that even just walking around Kanata’s home without him didn’t feel like he was intruding anymore, even if he hadn’t exactly met the Oozora family at large yet. Motions like going around the kitchen were familiar to him now, and it was...nice, doing something like this again. Helping someone he cared for so dearly.

Gaito filled a little bag with ice and wrapped it in a towel, bringing it back to Kanata’s side. He kneeled next to him, gently brushing Kanata’s hair out of his face, and pressed the ice against his forehead gently. “There. How’s that feel?”

“...Better.” Kanata’s voice was so quiet now. “But Gaito…”

“Yes?”

This time, Kanata snaked one of his hands out from under the quilt, reaching up to grab Gaito’s wrist. “Are you listening, Gaito?”

“I’m listening.”

Kanata took a deep breath, inhale and exhale, his tired eyes blinking slowly. “Thank you...for taking care of me.”

Gaito couldn’t help but smile at Kanata--who was still just Kanata, the same sweet, straightforward Kanata. “Of course.” And Kanata was just out of it enough, just sleepy enough, that Gaito didn’t feel embarrassed at all about following that up with, “After all, it’s my destiny to stay by your side.”

Kanata smiled, letting go of Gaito’s wrist, and taking his hand instead. And they sat there together, hand in hand, until the soft patterns of Kanata’s breathing fell to those of sleep.


End file.
